1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the field of handheld computers. In particular, the present invention relates to an efficient communication network activation method and system.
2. Related Art
Electronic systems and circuits have made a significant contribution towards the advancement of modern society and are utilized in a number of applications to achieve advantageous results. Numerous electronic technologies such as digital computers, calculators, audio devices, video equipment, and telephone systems facilitate increased productivity and cost reductions in analyzing and communicating data, ideas and trends in most areas of business, science, education and entertainment. Electronic systems designed to produce these results often include distributed communication devices that communicate over a network. Typically, a device has to be registered with a network controller before communicating on a communication network and traditional communication network registration and activation processes require significant complicated user input to complete.
Communication network registration and activation typically involves obtaining information from a network operator or vendor (e.g., a public network vendor such as Bell South) that is utilized to configure a device for communication on the network. For example, most communication network management and control protocols typically require the devices coupled to the network to be identified (e.g., so that information is delivered properly). The Mobitex communication network usually assigns a communication device a Mobitex access number (MAN) that is used to configure a device for communications on the Mobitex network. The number and variety of devices that are registered and activated on communication networks is increasing rapidly. For example, numerous computer systems are coupled to public communications networks (e.g., communication networks of public telephone operators) and utilize information communicated over the network for a variety of activities (e.g., interacting with the Internet).
As the components required to build a computer system have reduced in size, new categories of computer systems have emerged. One of the new categories of computer systems is the hand held or “palmtop” computer system. A palmtop computer system is a computer that is small enough to be held in the hand of a user and is often “palm-sized.” One of the most significant benefits of a palm top computer is mobility. The mobility typically permits a user to utilize the device when traveling away from a fixed location. A user is often engaged in other activities and the easier a hand held computer is to use the easier it is for a user to continue to perform the other activities while using the palmtop computer.
Palmtop computer systems are often used as Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs) to implement various Personal Information Management (PIM) applications such as an address book, a daily organizer, and electronic notepads, to name a few. Even though palmtop computer systems are very small, they typically provide diverse functionality and their capabilities are constantly increasing. A variety of different computer program applications are typically included in a hand held computer and as the computational power and memory capabilities of a hand held computer increase more and more applications are expected to be available for use in a palm top computer. For example, some Palmtop computers have wireless communication capabilities and utilize public cellular communication networks to exchange information with other devices. The ability to communicate with other devices provides numerous benefits including allowing the relatively limited palmtop computer to have access to the computational power and memory of distributed resources. To communicate over a network Palmtop computers typically have to be registered and activated on the network.
Traditional communication devices typically require a complicated series of manual interactions with the device and the communication network to complete registration and activation of the device on a network (e.g., establishing a network account). Typically, a device has to be brought to a service representative for registration and activation. This is often inconvenient and consumes service representative resources. The registration and activation is also often location dependent and requires a different read only memory (ROM) for different locations. Even if a user tries to register and activate the device themselves they usually have to contact the communication vendor and provide technical information about the device (e.g., the configuration of the device) to the vendor. After the user has provided the information to the vendor regarding the device the vendor provides an activation and registration number (e.g., a MAN number) that the user has to input to the device. These processes requiring the user to understand and provide technical information are often difficult for the average user to understand.
What is required is a system and method that facilitates automated registration and activation of a communication device on a wireless communication network.